Religion
Dear Readers,
I would like to talk about religion. This topic can be a touchy subject for a lot of people, but it is something that I have been thinking of a fair bit in the last little while. As always, writing all this down is more for my benefit than anyone else but who knows, someone might take comfort in my musings.
I wouldn’t call myself a devout Christian. I was raised a Catholic but never went to church. I married into a Baptist family and I really did/do enjoy going to church with my wife and her family. However, as time has gone by, I have really started to find my own answers in my own way. Both my wife and I stopped going to church all together but that doesn’t mean we don’t believe in God and that we don’t thank Him every day. I guess I would be considered an agnostic now.
Do I believe in the Bible? Yes, I believe in the overall message contained within. Love thy neighbor, do no harm unto others, help the needy etc. However, I do not believe that the Bible is a historical record that is to be followed to the letter. It was written by man an eon ago and over time it has been bent and twisted. It is a story from a different time in history.
Here is what I believe; I believe in God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary etc. I believe that doing right, helping others and thanking God from one’s own privacy is completely acceptable. I do not believe that we need to gather on Sundays to worship together in masses in order to be considered worthy to enter Heaven.
I believe in both miracles from Divine intervention and I believe in dumb luck as well.
I do not believe in the creationist theory. I believe in evolution but evolution with Divine intervention none the less.
I believe that living a good life filled with truly good things, helping one another and remembering that death is not the end is enough to get one through to those pearly white gates.
Lastly, and most importantly, I do believe that God has a master plan for us all. Yes sometimes bad things happen and you may wonder “If there was a God, why would he do this to me?” But good things happen too, whether you realize it or not.
One miracle that happened to me was just under 8 months ago. My wife and I were not able to conceive a baby. We tried for over 5 years with not even a smidgen of success. My wife underwent all sorts of medications, surgery and treatments to try and help but nothing worked. With nothing left to do, I prayed to God with all my heart for help. We visited a small little clinic in a city about 8 hours south of us, shortly after my phone conference with God. That was about 10 months ago now and we are now expecting our first baby in just over 1 month from now.
When you have lost all hope and something truly miraculous happens, it can’t just be coincidence can it? I know some people out there have a lot of bad in their life and may be reading this thinking that I am full of…well you know. The only answers I have are the cliché ones. Keep the faith. Everything happens for a reason. Bla bla bla. You may not believe it now, or ever, and if that’s what you want, that’s OK. I respect that. But if you are unsure, try reaching out. In the end. you may be surprised.
Having written all this down and re-reading it, it seems like word vomit to me. I swear that this was a lot more meaningful, concise and better written last night while I was lying in bed. However, I think that my overall thought can be read here.
John Burroughs once said “The Kingdom of Heaven is not a place, but a state of mind” and I think that quote fits perfectly here. If you believe that good things can happen, then, eventually, they will. If you believe that the world is only filled with darkness and that you are alone on this tiny spec of mass in the cosmos, then you will forever wander in the darkness.
If I have offended anyone out there, it truly was not my intent. I would like to hear back from any readers out there what they think. Whether they think I am full of…well you know…or not. 🙂 So please “like” this post and leave a comment if you so desire.
Prayer may not change God, but it may change the one praying.
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1 Comment
Sarah · September 1, 2013 at 11:18 pm
Where have you been hiding this deep thoughtful side of yourself all these years? If it’s just because writing it out helps clarify your thoughts, please don’t stop.
I also wanted to share an exerpt from that book I read, “Proof of Heaven”.
“I occasionally used ‘Om’ as the pronoun for God in my writings because it was the sound I remembered hearing associated with that omniscient, omnipotent, and unconditionally loving God. ..I had initially received this piece of knowledge upon my first entrance into the Gateway. It came in three parts, and to take a shot at putting it into words it would run something like this:
You are loved and cherished.
You have nothing to fear.
There is nothing you can do wrong.
If I had to boil the entire message down to one sentence, it would run this way.
You are loved.
And if I had to boil it down further, to just one word, it would be, simply:
Love.
Isn’t that just wonderful? That was my absolute favorite part of his memoir. I know it doesn’t tie in perfectly with your topic, but I just had to share.